§ 7.39 p.m.
§ The Earl of Dundee rose to move, That the draft regulations laid before the House on 23rd March be approved [14th Report from the Joint Committee]—(The Earl of Dundee.)
§ The noble Earl said: My Lords, the legal aid financial eligibility limits are normally uprated annually when the Department of Social Security raises the levels of social security benefits. This eases administration because applicants on certain income-related benefits automatically qualify for legal aid.
§ Turning to the regulations themselves, your Lordships will know that similar regulations increasing the corresponding eligibility limit in England and Wales came into force as part of the sizeable package of legal aid regulations approved by both Houses at the end of March. The regulations adjust the legal aid financial limits to take account of inflation, and reflect the overall levels of changes in social security benefits. Before us today, there are two sets of draft regulations raising the eligibility limits for civil legal aid and advice and assistance. Two other sets of regulations, subject to negative resolution procedure, which came into force on 10th April, have amended the amounts by which an assisted person's resources may change before they are reassessed for the purposes of the Civil Legal Aid and the allowances made in respect of dependants in advice and assistance.
§ The Civil Legal Aid (Financial Conditions) (Scotland) Regulations 1989raise the lower disposable income limit for civil legal aid—that is the level below which no contribution from income is payable—from £2,400 to £2,515 a year. The 760 increase in the upper income limit—that is, the level above which legal aid is not normally available—is from £5,765 to £6,035 per year. The upper capital limit above which legal aid is not normally available is increased from £5,000 to £6,000. There is no change in the lower limit.
§ The Advice and Assistance (Financial Conditions) (Scotland) Regulations 1989 raise the upper income limit from £122 to £128 per week. The capital limit above which advice and assistance is not available increases from £850 to £890. The scale of contributions for applicants with disposable income between the upper and lower income limits for advice and assistance is also changed by the regulations. Generally, the changes represent an increase of around 4.7 per cent. which matches the uprating level of the income related social security benefits. The common uprating level is retail prices index, excluding housing. This formula is the right one to have for the uprating of legal aid eligibility limits as it is for income-related social security benefits. It is applied on a United Kingdom basis and the provisions for England and Wales are currently in force.
§ It is further proposed to increase the upper capital limit for civil legal aid to £6,000 thereby aligning the capital limits of legal aid and income support. This is intended to mitigate the effect of the anomaly which has arisen whereby those on income support, who may have capital up to £6,000, are eligible for free legal aid while others with capital over £5,235 under the uprated limits are currently not eligible for legal aid at all.
§ Recipients of income support and other income related benefits are permitted to have £3,000 in disposable capital before any income is assumed to be generated which would affect the level of benefit paid. It seems sensible to continue to use this limit as the threshold for capital contributions for legal aid, which is why the lower capital limit is unchanged.
§ I should perhaps briefly outline the provisions within the other two sets of negative resolution regulations to which I referred a moment ago. The Civil Legal Aid (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 1989 amended the amounts by which an assisted person's resources may change before he is required to have them reassessed for legal aid purposes. These thresholds had not been changed since 1983. These will reduce the number of civil legal aid accounts that will require to be reassessed in the future, thereby producing an administrative saving for the Scottish Legal Aid Board. The Advice and Assistance (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 1989 have amended the allowances in respect of dependants which are taken into account when calculating disposable capital in the assessment of eligibility for advice and assistance, from £200 to £335 for the first dependant, from £120 to £200 for the second and from £60 to £100 for subsequent dependants. I commend the regulations to the House. I beg to move.
§ Moved, That the draft regulations laid before the House on 23rd March be approved [14th Report from the Joint Committee.]—(The Earl of Dundee.)
761§ Lord Carmichael of KelvingroveMy Lords, I thank the Minister for his full and helpful explanation of the background to the regulations. When such regulations come before the House, we are always amazed at just how low levels of income must be before legal aid is available. The table in the Civil Legal Aid (Financial Conditions) (Scotland) Regulations shows that if one has a weekly income exceeding £69 but not exceeding £75, one pays £12. If one has an income of £123 to £128 a week, one pays £70 for advice. If one earns more than that one pays the full amount. Whatever one's views of the various points in the Lord Chancellor's Green Papers—I listened to some of the debate a week ago—there is no doubt that the noble and learned Lord was on to something when he suggested that the legal processes should be made more available to people.
An income of £128 a week is not very much. Yet if one earns that and one goes to a lawyer for advice it will cost £70. This is not a party political point. I realise that the cost of the legal aid system is very high. However, not to be able to receive free legal 762 aid or much help with legal processes if one earns £128 a week is horrific and makes the law almost inaccessible to large numbers of people.
I thank the Minister for his explanation of the regulations. My grumbles are not with him. When we were in power we did not do a great deal either. It is a point which we should consider seriously when we return to power.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.